Analysis

Design Patent Dissent Highlights Frustration Over Subjectivity

By Dani Kass

Federal Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore's impassioned dissent to the court throwing out a design patent infringement suit captured how difficult it can be to frame comparisons, from a legal standard and based on differences in how people perceive the world, attorneys say.

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Analysis

Blockbuster's TM Legacy Tested By Dispute Over Deer Feed

By Ivan Moreno

Once a titan in U.S. retail, the Blockbuster brand is embroiled in an unexpected trademark battle with a Mississippi-based animal feed company that it accuses of trying to exploit the legacy of the once-ubiquitous video rental chain.

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Squires Spurns 16 Petitions, Grants 6 In Latest Bulk Order

By Theresa Schliep

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' latest summary decision instituted six petitions for America Invents Act patent challenges and denied 16 others, bringing his total of rejected petitions to 266.

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Justices Urged To Restore $181M Verdict Against AT&T, Nokia

By Adam Lidgett

Finesse Wireless LLC has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its challenge to the Federal Circuit's decision wiping out a $181 million verdict against AT&T and Nokia, saying it's part of a long trend of the circuit court not respecting jury verdicts.

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Fed. Circ. Backs $85M Patent Antitrust Verdict Against Ingevity

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to disturb a Delaware jury's $85 million antitrust verdict against Ingevity over it tying patent licenses to purchases of its automobile carbon filtering technology, rejecting the company's arguments that it was entitled to a certain statutory patent misuse defense.

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9th Circ. Mulls DMCA Claim Against Microsoft And OpenAI

By Bonnie Eslinger

A group of software developers Wednesday urged the Ninth Circuit to revive their claim that Microsoft, GitHub and OpenAI violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by stripping copyright management information from the developers' open source code, which the companies then used to develop the artificial intelligence tools for Microsoft's Copilot software.

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GoDaddy Challenges $170M Loss, Patent Owner Wants $370M

By Rae Ann Varona

GoDaddy is looking to nix its $170 million verdict loss in Express Mobile's lawsuit that accused the website hosting platform of willfully infringing patents related to creating websites while Express Mobile urged a Delaware federal court to increase its damages to $370 million, according to newly unsealed court filings.

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Judge Seeks Clarity On OpenAI's 'Project Giraffe' For IP Suit

By Ivan Moreno

A New York federal magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered OpenAI to respond to questions about its "Project Giraffe," which plaintiffs suing over the company's use of copyrighted material in ChatGPT training describe as an effort to identify and block infringing outputs.

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Miami World Cup Counsel Share Look At Prep Work, Impact

By Nathan Hale

Counsel representing the FIFA World Cup's Miami Host Committee gave Law360 an inside look at their multifaceted work preparing for the upcoming event, which organizers say could have the economic impact of multiple Super Bowls.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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Intellectual Property Group Of The Year: Baker Botts

By Theresa Schliep

Attorneys in Baker Botts LLP's intellectual property practice successfully resolved a patent infringement case against Ericsson after wiping out a monster verdict against the company and fended off a decade-long licensing case against MasterCard, earning the firm a spot among the 2025 Law360 Intellectual Property Groups of the Year.

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7th Circ. Mulls Expiration Date Of Teva, Eli Lilly Patent Deal

By Celeste Bott

Seventh Circuit judges Wednesday pressed counsel for Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. to address how long a settlement under which Eli Lilly & Co. agreed not to block the approval and marketing of Teva's generic version of its osteoporosis drug Forteo could reasonably remain in effect, given Teva's drug wasn't ready for market until years after the underlying patent dispute.

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Apple Keeps PTAB Win Over Fintiv Patent Claims At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld Apple's Patent Trial and Appeal Board win in its challenge to claims in a patent issued to the defunct Austin, Texas-based mobile payment startup that would become Fintiv.

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Lighting Co. Signify Nets $411K Verdict In Patent Case

By Adam Lidgett

A Nevada federal jury found that lighting company Lepro owes nearly $411,000 in a suit brought by rival Signify over LED technology patents after finding the remaining three patents before the jury were infringed.

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Judge Tosses Patent Suit Over Decentralized Exchange Tech

By Adam Lidgett

A New York federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit accusing the companies behind Uniswap of infringing patents for smart contract technology used in decentralized exchanges, finding the patent claims didn't pass the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice test.

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ZTE Escapes Samsung's Patent Licensing Case For Now

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court has found that ZTE lacks sufficient connections to the U.S. for the court to have jurisdiction over claims from Samsung that the China-based technology company refuses to license its standard essential patents on fair terms.

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Brief

Supreme Court Sets April Argument For 'Skinny Label' Case

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. Supreme Court has set an April 29 date for oral arguments in Hikma Pharmaceutical Inc.'s appeal of a decision that revived a patent case over its "skinny label" on a generic heart drug.

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AI Cos. Would Have To Disclose Training Under Bipartisan Bill

By Elliot Weld

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would require technology companies to disclose copyrighted works that they use to train generative artificial intelligence models with the U.S. Copyright Office.

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Calif. Atty Wins $25K Fee Sanction Over AI Errors

By Emily Sawicki

A California federal court has ordered $25,000 in fee sanctions for a litigator representing a mobile app platform in a copyright and contract suit as reimbursement for work he said went into responding to an error-ridden motion and further resulting motion practice.

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Insurer Must Defend Real Estate Firm Against Copyright Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurer must defend a real estate company against claims that it infringed an architect's copyright in marketing materials for a newly-built home, a Massachusetts federal court ruled, finding that an exclusion for misappropriated property does not apply to bar coverage.

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CoStar Digs In On Quinn Emanuel DQ Bid In CREXi IP Suit

By Grace Dixon

CoStar doubled down on its efforts to disqualify Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP counsel from representing rival CREXi amid copyright infringement litigation in California federal court, reiterating that it's not bound by a conflict waiver signed by a company CoStar later acquired.

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Estee Lauder Hits Walmart With TM Suit Alleging Copycats

By Gina Kim

Estee Lauder hit Walmart with a trademark infringement suit in California federal court Monday, accusing it of hawking copycat versions of its luxury personal care products, cosmetics and fragrance collections sold under popular brands including Clinique, La Mer and Tom Ford. 

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Shkreli Can't Add Wu-Tang Members To Fight With Crypto Co.

By Elliot Weld

"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli can't drag two members of the Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop group into a suit brought by a crypto firm that claims Shkreli improperly retained copies of an album that it bought the rights to, a New York federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

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MrBeast, Ex-IT Worker Near Deal In Trade Secret Theft Dispute

By Gina Kim

YouTube star MrBeast's media company has told a North Carolina federal judge it has reached a settlement in principle to resolve its lawsuit accusing a former IT contractor of downloading thousands of confidential company documents ahead of his firing and leaving behind hidden cameras throughout the company's offices.

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Pegasystems Settles Mass. Shareholder Actions For $7M

By Julie Manganis

Pegasystems has agreed to pay $7 million to settle three shareholder derivative suits in Massachusetts state and federal courts alleging the software company's top officials sat on details of a 2020 trade secrets suit that led to a now-overturned $2 billion verdict.

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Bankruptcy Court Asked To Keep Nicklaus Biopic Deal Intact

By Ganesh Setty

A film production company has urged a Delaware bankruptcy court not to allow any successful bidder for brand licensing rights of Jack Nicklaus to disturb a biopic screenplay agreement involving an affiliate of the insolvent business bearing the golf legend's name, saying the firm's role is commercially critical.

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What Artists Can Learn From Latest AI Music Licensing Deals

Recent partnerships between music labels and artificial intelligence companies raise a number of key questions for artists, rightsholders and other industry players about IP, revenue-sharing, and rights and obligations, say attorneys at Manatt.

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Trade Secret Steps To Take As Exposure Risk Increases

Against the backdrop of rising trade secret litigation, greater employee mobility and constraints on noncompetes, recent cases highlight the importance of minimizing trade secret risks when employees leave or when new hires join, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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If Your AI Vendor Goes Bankrupt: Keeping Licensed IP Access

With contracting norms still evolving to account for the licensing of artificial intelligence tools, customers that need to retain access to key AI products in the event of vendor’s bankruptcy should consider four elements that could determine whether they may invoke traditional Section 365(n) intellectual property protections, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Open Questions After Defense Contractor Executive Order

The scope and long-term effects of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the U.S. defense industrial base are uncertain, but the immediate impact is significant as it appears to direct the U.S. Department of Defense to take a more active role in contractor affairs, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Norton Rose Taps Trial Atty As New Head Of LA Office

By James Mills

Norton Rose Fulbright has tapped a veteran trial attorney to be the new head of its Los Angeles office.

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Trump Nominates Judges for SC, Mont., Virgin Islands

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced district court nominees for South Carolina, Montana and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as one nominee for the International Trade Court.

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Foley & Lardner Adds Ex-Gray Reed Construction Pro In Dallas

By Lynn LaRowe

Foley & Lardner LLP has boosted the manufacturing sector of its construction practice group with a Dallas-based partner who came from Gray Reed & McGraw LLP.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Slater Stepping Down

By Matthew Perlman

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, said on Thursday she will be leaving her post just shy of a year after being confirmed by the Senate.

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NY Senators Criticize DOJ Over US Attorney Firing

By Courtney Bublé

New York's senators blasted the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday for abruptly firing the newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.

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NYC Board Fines Atty $8.5K For Use Of Laptop, Role With City

By Emily Sawicki

A former special adviser to a New York City Human Resources Administration deputy commissioner has been hit with an $8,500 fine after admitting to use of his city laptop to send personal emails and invoking his role at a public meeting on behalf of a cannabis dispensary application.

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Watchdog Defends Ex-Alex Jones Atty's Conn. Suspension

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut judge did not abuse her discretion when she suspended an attorney who formerly represented conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones in a $1.4 billion defamation case, the state's professional misconduct watchdog has told the Connecticut Supreme Court in asking the justices to skip Norman A. Pattis' appeal.

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Former NJ AG Matthew Platkin Launches Litigation Boutique

By Jake Maher

Former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Thursday announced the launch of Platkin LLP, a litigation boutique made up of former state prosecutors looking to take on cases touching on consumer protection, the rule of law and other public interest causes.

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McCarter & English Can't Tank $22M Suit, Insurer Says

By Aaron Keller

Two insurance companies have urged a Connecticut Superior Court judge to maintain a $22.3 million professional negligence lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP, saying document production delays don't warrant killing the case less than a month before trial.

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Analysis

IP Firms Are Navigating AI Era With Range Of Guardrails

By Elliot Weld

Intellectual property law firms are taking various approaches to implementing artificial intelligence into their professional routines, with some developing their own tools, others limiting what external AI platforms that lawyers can access and one firm saying it has banned attorneys from using AI to draft legal briefs.

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NC Justices Asked To Decide Gov.'s Power To Appoint Judges

By Hayley Fowler

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is asking the state's top court to review a decision that let lawmakers curtail his ability to fill judicial vacancies in appellate courts, arguing the ruling defies precedent as well as the state Constitution and must be reversed.

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9th Circ. Judges Doubt AG-Picked Nevada US Atty Can Serve

By Dorothy Atkins

Two judges on a Ninth Circuit panel doubted Thursday the government's argument that a lower court erred by finding the U.S. Attorney General wrongly appointed Nevada's top federal prosecutor, with both judges repeatedly noting that the government's legal theory suggests that U.S. attorneys could circumvent the nomination process indefinitely.

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Mass. US Atty Calls ICE Criticism 'Hyperbole,' Praises Agents

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said Thursday that criticism of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by state and local officials and a lack of cooperation with federal agents is to blame for "chaos in the streets," as she forcefully defended the Trump administration's policies.

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Fulton DA Willis Fights $17M Fee Bid In Trump Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia district attorney who charged President Donald Trump and his allies with election interference and was later disqualified from the case protested the nearly $17 million in legal fees they recently requested, taking aim at a new state law that allows them to seek the costs.

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ArentFox Schiff Hires Ex-Haynes Boone Real Estate Ace In NY

By Isaac Monterose

ArentFox Schiff has hired an ex-Haynes Boone attorney with over 25 years of experience for a partner role on its real estate team in New York City, the firm announced Tuesday.

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